Palin Calls For Shining ‘A Light’ On Alaskan Oil Company That Helped Propel Her Political Career

Yesterday, after Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was found guilty by a federal jury for failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and services he had received from friends, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin issued a statement calling it “a sad day for Alaska.” In the statement, Palin also declared that the “verdict shines a light though on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company” whose CEO provided many of Stevens’ unreported gifts:

The verdict shines a light though on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company up there in Alaska that was allowed to control too much of our state. And that control was part of the culture of corruption that I was elected to fight. And that fight must always move forward regardless of party affiliation or seniority or even past service.

In 2006, when she ran for governor, Palin ran as a critic of Veco and said that she “didn’t want Veco money.” But her running mate, Sean Parnell, received two $500 checks from Veco officers during the campaign, including one from Allen. Last month, Palin donated to charity “more than $1,000 in campaign contributions from two Alaska politicians implicated” in the federal corruption probe surrounding Veco.